Australia: Proposed changes to the Industrial Chemicals Rules

 

Australia has published Proposed changes to the Industrial Chemicals (General) Rules and Categorisation Guidelines.

The consultation paper invites public comments on a suite of proposals relating to categorisation, reporting and record-keeping obligations – through proposed amendments to the Industrial Chemicals (General) Rules 2019 and the Industrial Chemicals Categorisation Guidelines administered by the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS).

Key proposals in this consultation include:

• Replacing written undertakings with records that will make compliance easier.
• Greater acceptance of International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) names for reporting and record keeping.
• Changes to the categorisation criteria to benefit:
  • small-scale soap makers
  • introducers of chemicals in flavour and fragrance blends
  • introducers of hazardous chemicals where introduction and use are controlled.
• Strengthening criteria and/or reporting requirements for health and environmental protection, for example, to prevent persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from being categorised as exempted or reported Introductions.

None of the proposals involve changes to the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019.

The Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) helps protect the health of Australians and our environment by finding out the risks of industrial chemicals and recommending ways to promote their safer use.

The Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 is the legal framework for the regulation of the importation and manufacture (introduction) of industrial chemicals in Australia. The Industrial Chemicals (General) Rules 2019 (General Rules) form part of the legislative framework and contain the technical and operational details of AICIS under the functions of the Executive Director. The Industrial Chemicals Categorisation Guidelines are issued by the Executive Director of AICIS and set out technical details and requirements for categorising chemical introductions in Australia.

The public consultation about the proposal can be found HERE.

To find out more about chemical compliance in Australia, please contact the Product Compliance Institute directly.